Container closure having sealing cap and fastening ring

ABSTRACT

A container closure assembly made up of a synthetic plastic closure flange, a closure plug and an overlying synthetic plastic cap seal including a metal securing ring. The closure assembly is applied as a unit to an upstanding neck formation surrounding a container wall opening and secured in place by clinching the metal securing ring radially inwardly about is periphery. Access to the closure plug is achieved by tearing away the center portion of the cap seal leaving the remainder of the closure assembly firmly secured to the container.

United States Patent Laurizio [451 Aug. 15,1972

[54] CONTAINER CLOSURE HAVING SEALING CAP AND FASTENING RING [72]Inventor: Jeremiah Laurizio, New Providence,

[73] Assignee: American Flange & Mfg. Co. Inc.,

New York, NY.

[22] Filed: Aug. 7, 1970 [21] Appl. No.: 62,043

[52] US. Cl. ..220/27, 220/39 R [51] Int. Cl. ..B65d 17/00 [58] Field ofSearch.....220/27, 39 R, 439 B, 160, 55;

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Littlefield ..220/39 RCarpenter, Jr. ..220/39 B Parish, Jr. et al. ..220/39 R PrimaryExaminer-George T. Hall Attorney-Albert M. Parker 57] ABSTRACT Acontainer closure assembly made up of a synthetic plastic closureflange, a closure plug and an overlying synthetic plastic cap sealincluding a metal securing ring. The closure assembly is applied as aunit to an upstanding neck formation surrounding a container wallopening and secured in place by clinching the metal securing ringradially inwardly about is periphery. Access to the closure plug isachieved by tearing away the center portion of the cap seal leaving theremainder of the closure assembly firmly secured to the container.

6 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures opening neck;

CONTAINER CLOSURE HAVING SEALING CAP AND FASTENING RING BACKGROUND OFTHE INVENTION A need has arisen for an efficient, economical closure forcontainers and particularly containers formed of synthetic plasticmaterial. A number of closure arrangements have been proposed which havefailed in one respect or another to satisfy all the requirements of theinstant closure application. At the outset a closure arrangementresponding to'the above described need requires an externally threadedplug to afford effective sealing under severe use conditions. The pouropening which the plug seals off must be of a sufficient diameter toprovide efficient dispensing of relatively. viscous fluids. It is alsoessential that a sufficiently large fill opening be provided forefficient handling of such viscous fluids. In addition to the primaryclosure pro-' formation surrounding a suitably large container wall fillopening. The flange is formed with a threaded opening for reception of asynthetic plastic closure plug. A synthetic plastic tamperproof cap sealincluding an annular metal securing ring, engaged about the capperiphery, overlies theflang'e and plug. The above' described closureassembly is sealingly engaged to the upstandingcontainer wall openingneck by forming the metal. securing ring radially inwardly" about itsfor purposes of illustration as molded of synthetic periphery. Access tothe'closure plug is gained by tearing away the center portion of thetamperproof cap seal leaving the remainder of the closure assemblyperman'ently secured to the container.

It is accordingly a principal object of the invention to provide a newclosure assembly for containers. I

Another object is .to provide a substantially all plastic closureflange, plug and tamperproof seal assembly for application as a unit tocontainers.

A further object is to provide a plastic closure flange, plug andoverlying tamperproof seal assembly to a container opening neck byutilizing a single securing means for locking the flange and overlyingseal to the container opening neck.

Other and more detailed objects will be in part obvious and in partpointed out as the description of the invention, taken in conjunctionwith the accompanying drawing proceeds.

In that drawing:

plastic material, is found with a suitably large fill opening 2surrounded by'an upstanding neck 3 terminating in an enlargedcircumferential bead 4. A closure flange 5 is formed of syntheticplastic material having a downwardly extending neck 6 internallythreaded as indicated at numeral 7. A gasketing seat 8 is formed at theupper end of the thread formation 7. An integrally molded annularseal-ing portion 9 is formed at the upper end of the flange neck 6including an upwardly extending inner" wall I0, a radially outwardlyextending top wall 11 and a downwardly extending outer peripheral wall12 terminating at its lowermost end in a radially inwardly extending lip13. Aclosure plug 14 is provided having an externally threaded body 15terminating at its up end in a gasket receiving seat 16 and a radiallyenlarged circumferential head l7. A sealing gasket 18 surrounds theplugbody 15 beneath the head 17 and in engagement with the seat 16. Theassemblyis completed with a tamperproof overlying seal 19. The seal 19includes a cap 20 formed of synthetic plastic having a lowercylindrical'wall 21 and an uppercylin" drical' wall 22. displacedradially inwardly-from the lower wall 21 with an annular radiallyextending web 23 interconnecting the upper end of thelower wall 21 andthe lower end of the upper wall 22. A tearing zone 24 is located atthejuncture of the web 23 and the upper wall 22. The uppermost end of theupper wall 22 is in turn connected to a circular top wall 25. As alsoseen in FIG. '2 a pair of diametrically. opposed perforated cars 26extend radially outwardly from the lowermost edge of the lower wall 21'for attachment of an identifying tag if desired. An'annular metalsecuring ring 27 forms a part of the seal 19 surrounding the lowerportion of the cap 20. As clearly seen in FIGS. 2 and 3 the ring 27 hasa lower skirt portion 28 provided with a slight downwardand radiallyoutward flare. The

FIG. 1 is an exploded view of the container closure assembly combinationof the invention;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the combination in FIG.

the closure assembly loosely in place on a container FIG. 3 is anenlarged fragmentary sectional view of t upper end of the skirt 28 isjoined to a radially inwardly extending lip 29 which closely overliesthe annular web 23 of the cap 20.

In FIG. 3 the closure assembly is shown as a complete factory, assembledunit with the plug 14 threadedly engaged within the flange opening 7causing the plug gasket 17 to sealingly engage the .flange gasketingseat 8. In addition the tamperproof seal 19 is fitted over the flange 9with the lower wall 21 and web 23 of the cap 20 in engagementrespectively with the outer wall 12 and top wall 11 of the flange 9. Theclosure assemblyis then loosely applied to the upstanding containeropening neck 3. The application of a light downward pressure forces'thelip 13 radially outwardly about the container neck bead 4. The outwardflare of the securing ring wall 28 permits the necessary circumferentialexpansion of the underlying cap wall 12 to allow the lip 13 to snap overthe head 4 andsnugly engage the opening neck 13.

I As illustrated in FIG. 4, the securing ring wall 28 is thencrimped'radiallyinwardly about its periphery permanently securing theentire closure assembly to the container opening neck 3. The resultingcompression of the adjacent top wall 21 and flange wall 12 against theopening neck 3, which is further radially reinforced by the flange innerwall 10, effectively seals off any possible leakage path around the neckopening 2 and in addition precludes unauthorized access to the containercontents.

In FIG. it is clearly illustrated how authorized access to the closureplug 14 is gained by simply inserting a suitably sharp implement such asa knife or a screwdriver into the tearing zone 24. The center portion ofthe cap 29 including the top wall and the upper cylindrical wall 22, isthen easily torn away completely exposing the closure plug 14. Theoriginal sealed condition of the container is fully preserved, however,with regard to preventing a leakage path between the opening neck andthe flange since the securing ring 27 remains in place tightlycompressing the cap lower wall 21 and web 23 about the periphery of theflange 5. A highly efficient, substantially all plastic containerclosure assembly is accordingly provided utilizing a single metalsecuring ring for effectively serving the dual purposes of permanentlyaffixing both a closure flange and an overlying tamperproof seal to acontainer opening neck.

Having described my invention what I claim is as follows:

1. A closure assembly for containers comprising a container wall havingan opening surrounded by an upstanding neck, a closure flange overlyingsaid opening defining an axial dispensing passage, a screw thread formedalong said passage, an annular sealing portion surrounding saiddispensing passage seated on said neck, a cap formed of syntheticplastic material including a top wall overlying said flange dispensingpassage, a cylindrical cap sidewall depending from said top wall havinga lower wall portion tightly engaged around said flange sealing portionand a metal securing ring tightly engaged around said cap lower wallportion compressing said cap lower wall portion and said flange sealingportion against said upstanding neck.

2. A closure assembly as in claim I and said cap including a tearingsection whereby said cap top wall can be torn away leaving said flangeand said cap lower wall portion sealingly engaged about said neck bysaid securing ring.

3. A closure assembly as in claim 1 wherein said flange sealing portioncomprises an upstanding inner wall connected at its upper end to aradially outwardly extending annular top wall joining a downwardly extending outer wall.

4. A closure assembly as in claim 1 wherein said cap lower wall portionis connected to a radially inwardly extending web joined at its radiallyinner extent to an upwardly extending upper wall portion, the uppermostend of said upper wall portion being connected to said cap top wall.

5. A closure assembly as in claim 4 and including a circumferentialtearing section formed at the juncture of said cap web and said upperwall portion.

6. A closure assembly as in claim 4 wherein said metal securing ringcomprises a radially extending annular lip overlying said flange sealingportion top wall and connected to a downwardly extending outer wallsurrounding said cap lower wall portion.

1. A closure assembly for containers comprising a container wall havingan opening surrounded by an upstanding neck, a closure flange overlyingsaid opening defining an axial dispensing passage, a screw thread formedalong said passage, an annular sealing portion surrounding saiddispensing passage seated on said neck, a cap formed of syntheticplastic material including a top wall overlying said flange dispensingpassage, a cylindrical cap sidewall depending from said top wall havinga lower wall portion tightly engaged around said flange sealing portionand a metal securing ring tightly engaged around said cap lower wallportion compressing said cap lower wall portion and said flange sealingportion against said upstanding neck.
 2. A closure assembly as in claim1 and said cap including a tearing section whereby said cap top wall canbe torn away leaving said flange and said cap lower wall portionsealingly engaged about said neck by said securing ring.
 3. A closureassembly as in claim 1 wherein said flange sealing portion comprises anupstanding inner wall connected at its upper end to a radially outwardlyextending annular top wall joining a downwardly extending outer wall. 4.A closure assembly as in claim 1 wherein said cap lower wall portion isconnected to a radially inwardly extending web joined at its radiallyinner extent to an upwardly extending upper wall portion, the uppermostend of said upper wall portion being connected to said cap top wall. 5.A closure assembly as in claim 4 and including a circumferential tearingsection formed at the juncture of said cap web and said upper wallportion.
 6. A closure assembly as in claim 4 wherein said metal securingring comprises a radially extending annular lip overlying said flangesealing portion top wall and connected to a downwardly extending outerwall surrounding said cap lower wall portion.